Oliver Bearman has said both he and his Haas team were left “perplexed” by the stewards’ decision to delete his laptime in qualifying for the Formula 1 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix at Imola, which would have seen him make it into Q2.
The Haas driver looked set to comfortably progress into the second stage of qualifying at the Imola circuit, completing a laptime that was enough to place him in 10th spot.
However, race control adjudged that red flags that were waved after Franco Colapinto’s Alpine crashed at Tamburello a mere fraction before the Brit crossed the line.
Replays appeared to show no red flags were waved, but rather one red light on the five-light startline display.
Bearman waited patiently inside the car as a lengthy delay to clear-up the debris from Colapinto’s shunt ensued, giving the stewards time to deliberate the situation
Eventually, it was decided that Bearman’s lap would not count, and his place in Q2 was handed to Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto.
Speaking to media including Motorsport Week, Bearman was distinctly unhappy with the decision, claiming the singular red light also appeared on the display inside his car, but after crossing the start-finish line.
“Yeah, I mean, we get the red light on our dash,” he said. “That, for me, didn’t happen until quite a way after I crossed the line.
“Watching the outboard video, it was clear that there was no red flag displayed when I crossed the line. So I believe it’s totally unfair to have it deleted.
“I feel like once they make a decision, even if it’s wrong, even if it’s clearly wrong, they’re not going to turn back on it. And that seems a bit harsh.
“They did have a little bit of time, because they were clearing up the crash as well. So they did look at it.”
However, Bearman believed that it was nonsensical for them to come to such a decision after being handed a reasonable period of time to come to this conclusion.
“I don’t know what took them ten minutes to understand. It’s not really a… It’s a clear-cut case, in my opinion,” he said, “and from what I saw, it was extremely clear. But, you know, unfortunately, not for them.”
Bearman wants clarity after ‘no explanation’
Bearman stated, at the time of his media duties, he had so far received no reason why the decision was made. He lamented the bad luck but said he wasn’t shocked by the decision.
“I wasn’t frustrated. Honestly, I was quite sure about what would happen, because I know how these people work, in a way,” he said. “And it’s a shame. It’s a shame, because I was quite sure that the second my lap was deleted, there was no way I was coming back.”
The 20-year-old added that his team were equally baffled by the incident, stating: “I think they’re perplexed as well. I would like now to fully understand what happened with the team and the FIA.
“Because it’s one thing being kicked out, but it’s another thing being kicked out with no explanation, which is the case at the moment.
Bearman confirmed the team will seek clarity from the FIA for why race control came to its decision to exclude him, but understands nothing will be changed, and rued the fact the team’s long-awaited upgrade to the VF-25 will now be rendered useless.
“Yeah, it’s not going to change the results,” he said. “Unfortunately, we are last now. It’s things like that. We work and we invest so much. We have a new package this weekend, and this has been months and months in the pipeline.
“It’s the only chance we have to show it. I put a lap that’s representative and really get the most out of the car, and that’s what we have to show for it. It’s a big shame.”
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